1 Descriptive Statistics

Data in Table 1 is from House of Commons Library reports (Audickas, Hawkins, & Cracknell, 2017; Kelly & White, 2016). All women shortlists were not used by Labour during the 2001 General Election.

Labour MPs and Intakes
General Election Total MPs Labour MPs Female Labour MPs Labour MPs Intake Intake Women Intake Shortlist Nominated Shortlist
1997 659 418 101 (24%) 177 64 (36%) 35 38
2001 659 412 95 (23%) 38 4 (11%) 0 0
2005 646 355 98 (28%) 40 26 (65%) 23 30
2010 650 258 81 (31%) 64 32 (50%) 28 63
2015 650 232 99 (43%) 49 31 (63%) 31 77
Number of Speeches and Words in Dataset
Gender Speeches Words
All 657,547 239,123,685
Female 149,805 56,589,501
Male 507,742 182,534,184
Conservatives
All 285,308 96,186,824
Female 48,771 15,779,116
Male 236,537 80,407,708
Labour
All 262,000 99,986,437
Female 84,615 34,159,304
Non-All Women Shortlists 28,653 11,623,184
All Women Shortlists 55,962 22,536,120
Male 177,385 65,827,133
Liberal Democrat
All 72,719 28,947,968
Female 7,552 3,232,822
Male 65,167 25,715,146
Other
All 37,520 14,002,456
Female 8,867 3,418,259
Male 28,653 10,584,197

2 Methodology

Previous research on gender differences in political speech patterns has focused on differences between male and female politicians (Yu, 2014) or on variations in Hilary Clinton’s speech patterns (Bligh, Merolla, Schroedel, & Gonzalez, 2010; Jones, 2016). This paper focuses on differences in speech patterns between female Labour MPs nominated through All Women Shortlists (AWS) and female Labour MPs nominated through open shortlists. We examined differences in speaking styles using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2015 (LIWC) dictionary (Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, & Blackburn, 2015) and the spaCy (Honnibal & Montani, 2017) Parts-of-Speech (POS) tagger. We examined differences in the topics discussed by AWS and non-AWS MPs, using \({\chi}^2\) tests for individual words and for bigrams. We trained a Naive Bayes classifier to distinguish AWS and non-AWS speeches. We used structured topic models (STM) to identify the topics discussed by AWS and non-AWS MPs.

To account for the possible effects of age, parliamentary experience and cohort, and in order to compare women selected through all women shortlists to women who were not (but who theoretically had the opportunity to contest all-women shortlists), our analysis is been restricted only to Labour MPs first elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 General Election, up to but excluding the 2017 General Election. Comparisons between MPs of different parties are also restricted to MPs first elected in the 1997 General Election, and before the 2017 General Election. Speeches made by the Speaker, including Deputy Speakers, were also excluded. Words contained in parentheses were removed, as they are added by Hansard to provide additional information not actually spoken by the MP.1 Speeches and data on MPs’ gender and party affiliation are from a previously assembled dataset (Odell, 2018). Information on candidates selected through all women shortlists is from the House of Commons Library (Kelly & White, 2016). Unsuccessful General Election candidates selected through all women shortlists who were subsequently elected in a byelection are classified as having been selected on an all women shortlist, regardless of the selection process for that byelection. Speeches made by MPs while suspended from the Labour party where classified the same as if they had not been suspended. The dataset includes 408 different Labour MPs, 167 female MPs, 119 elected from All Women Shortlists and 48 elected from open shortlists, along with 241 male MPs.

3 Results

3.1 Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count

Word classification used the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2015 (LIWC) dictionary (Pennebaker et al., 2015) and tokenising tools from the Quanteda R package (Benoit, 2018). Word counts and words-per-sentence were calculated using stringi (Gagolewski, 2018), a wrapper to the ICU regex library.

Following research by Yu (2014) and Newman, Groom, Handelman, & Pennebaker (2008) on gender differences in language, we compared MPs speeches using the following LIWC categories:

  • All Pronouns (pronoun)
  • First person singular pronouns (i)
  • First person plural pronouns (we)
  • Verbs (verb)
  • Auxiliary verbs (auxverb)
  • Social processes (social)
  • Positive emotions (posemo)
  • Negative emotions (negemo)
  • Tentative words (tentat)
  • Articles (article)
  • Prepositions (preps)
  • Anger words (anger)
  • Swear words (swear)
  • Cognitive processes (cogproc)
  • Words longer than six letters (Sixltr)

We also included mean words-per-sentence (WPS), total speach word count (WC) and Flesch–Kincaid grade level (FK) (Kincaid, Fishburne, Rogers, & Chissom, 1975), calculated using Quanteda (Benoit, 2018) and stringi (Gagolewski, 2018).

3.1.1 Women vs Men

Effect Sizes for Male and Female Labour MPs
Women
Men
Effect Size
Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Pronouns 10.07 4.60 10.15 4.99 0.02 negligible
First person singular pronouns 1.89 2.41 2.02 2.55 0.05 negligible
First person plural pronouns 0.98 1.42 0.99 1.51 0.01 negligible
Verbs 12.82 5.00 12.67 5.35 -0.03 negligible
Auxiliary verbs 7.91 3.45 7.93 3.69 0.01 negligible
Social processes 8.46 4.81 8.16 5.11 -0.06 negligible
Positive emotions 2.73 2.49 2.57 2.54 -0.06 negligible
Negative emotions 1.15 1.69 1.07 1.78 -0.05 negligible
Tentative words 1.48 1.74 1.58 1.90 0.05 negligible
More than six letters 10.62 3.67 10.26 3.92 -0.10 negligible
Articles 7.64 3.30 7.96 3.55 0.09 negligible
Prepositions 12.58 4.41 12.14 4.73 -0.10 negligible
Anger words 0.23 0.83 0.24 0.79 0.01 negligible
Swear words 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.09 0.01 negligible
Cognitive processes 8.68 4.83 8.82 5.15 0.03 negligible
Words per Sentence 43.99 19.92 41.43 20.30 -0.13 negligible
Total Word Count 402.72 691.10 370.13 647.25 -0.05 negligible
Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level 10.97 7.77 9.91 7.96 -0.13 negligible

There are no categories where gender differences meet the effect size threshold of \(|0.2|\) suggested by Cohen (1988, pp. 25–26) to indicate a small effect. 4 categories – words with more than six letters, prepositions, words-per-sentence and Flesh-Kincaid grade level – exceeded the \(|0.1|\) threshold suggested by Newman et al (2008).

3.1.2 Shortlists vs Non-Shortlists

The following plots show changes in the occurences of selected LIWC terms, words-per-sentence, total word count and Flesch–Kincaid grade level, over the course of an MP’s career. There do not appear to be any notable changes in speaking style over the course of female Labour MPs’ careers.

\label{sl-key-variables}Occurence of selected LIWC terms

Occurence of selected LIWC terms

Effect Sizes for Female Labour MPs by selection process
All Women Shortlists
Open Shorlists
Effect Size
Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Pronouns 10.01 4.66 10.19 4.47 -0.04 negligible
First person singular pronouns 1.86 2.41 1.95 2.42 -0.04 negligible
First person plural pronouns 0.88 1.36 1.16 1.51 -0.19 negligible
Verbs 12.88 5.10 12.69 4.80 0.04 negligible
Auxiliary verbs 7.94 3.49 7.86 3.38 0.02 negligible
Social processes 8.46 4.93 8.44 4.58 0.00 negligible
Positive emotions 2.69 2.52 2.81 2.42 -0.05 negligible
Negative emotions 1.17 1.69 1.13 1.68 0.02 negligible
Tentative words 1.48 1.75 1.49 1.73 0.00 negligible
More than six letters 10.56 3.72 10.74 3.56 -0.05 negligible
Articles 7.69 3.38 7.55 3.14 0.04 negligible
Prepositions 12.55 4.54 12.63 4.14 -0.02 negligible
Anger words 0.23 0.79 0.24 0.91 -0.01 negligible
Swear words 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.05 0.01 negligible
Cognitive processes 8.59 4.90 8.85 4.69 -0.05 negligible
Words per Sentence 44.39 20.69 43.21 18.31 0.06 negligible
Total Word Count 401.70 704.15 404.73 664.87 0.00 negligible
Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level 11.13 8.06 10.64 7.15 0.07 negligible

There are no categories among female Labour MPs by selection process meeting the \(|0.2|\) threshold. Only one category – first person plural pronouns, d=0.19 – exceeded \(|0.1|\).

3.1.3 Conservatives vs Labour

Effect Sizes for All Labour and Conservative MPs
Labour
Conservatives
Effect Size
Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Pronouns 10.12 4.87 10.61 4.84 0.10 negligible
First person singular pronouns 1.98 2.51 2.14 2.56 0.06 negligible
First person plural pronouns 0.98 1.48 1.22 1.70 0.15 negligible
Verbs 12.72 5.24 12.92 5.14 0.04 negligible
Auxiliary verbs 7.93 3.61 8.16 3.58 0.06 negligible
Social processes 8.26 5.02 8.11 4.80 -0.03 negligible
Positive emotions 2.63 2.52 2.85 2.66 0.09 negligible
Negative emotions 1.10 1.75 1.04 1.79 -0.03 negligible
Tentative words 1.55 1.85 1.57 1.88 0.01 negligible
More than six letters 10.38 3.84 10.31 3.75 -0.02 negligible
Articles 7.86 3.47 7.81 3.45 -0.01 negligible
Prepositions 12.28 4.63 12.35 4.49 0.02 negligible
Anger words 0.24 0.80 0.24 0.82 0.00 negligible
Swear words 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.10 0.00 negligible
Cognitive processes 8.77 5.05 8.85 5.06 0.01 negligible
Words per Sentence 42.26 20.22 43.07 20.39 0.04 negligible
Total Word Count 380.64 661.91 336.23 594.06 -0.07 negligible
Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level 10.25 7.91 10.54 7.99 0.04 negligible

There are no categories with effect sizes exceeding \(|0.2|\) between Labour and Conservative MPs, like inter-Labour differences.

3.1.4 All MPs Gender Differences

There are no categories with effect sizes exceeding \(|0.2|\) when comparing all male and female MPs elected from 1997 onwards. There is only one category, “Articles”, with an effect size of 0.11, greater than the \(|0.1|\) threshold suggested by Newman et al. (2008).

Effect Sizes for Male and Female MPs, All Parties
Women
Men
Effect Size
Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Pronouns 10.31 4.65 10.26 4.90 -0.01 negligible
First person singular pronouns 1.99 2.45 2.00 2.52 0.00 negligible
First person plural pronouns 1.11 1.57 1.08 1.59 -0.02 negligible
Verbs 12.89 4.98 12.80 5.26 -0.02 negligible
Auxiliary verbs 8.01 3.45 8.08 3.64 0.02 negligible
Social processes 8.44 4.77 7.99 4.92 -0.09 negligible
Positive emotions 2.84 2.53 2.70 2.58 -0.06 negligible
Negative emotions 1.10 1.65 1.07 1.78 -0.01 negligible
Tentative words 1.47 1.73 1.61 1.91 0.08 negligible
More than six letters 10.57 3.66 10.34 3.83 -0.06 negligible
Articles 7.63 3.30 8.00 3.51 0.11 negligible
Prepositions 12.59 4.36 12.22 4.61 -0.08 negligible
Anger words 0.23 0.79 0.25 0.82 0.02 negligible
Swear words 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.10 0.01 negligible
Cognitive processes 8.68 4.80 8.93 5.12 0.05 negligible
Words per Sentence 44.00 20.02 42.69 20.65 -0.07 negligible
Total Word Count 376.81 648.62 358.56 624.84 -0.03 negligible
Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level 10.95 7.82 10.43 8.08 -0.07 negligible

3.2 POS Analysis

Part-of-Speech Effect Sizes for Male and Female Labour MPs
Women
Men
Effect Size
Word Type Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Nouns 22.17 9.56 21.67 10.92 -0.05 negligible
Plural Nouns 5.86 3.71 5.04 3.79 -0.22 small
Singular Nouns 15.61 9.81 16.01 11.16 0.04 negligible
Adjectives 9.58 4.77 9.28 5.29 -0.06 negligible
Adverbs 4.91 4.25 5.06 4.91 0.04 negligible
Verbs 20.97 9.52 20.81 10.28 -0.02 negligible
Part-of-Speech Effect Sizes for AWS and non-AWS Labour MPs
All Women Shortlists
Open Shorlists
Effect Size
Word Type Mean SD Mean SD Cohen’s D Magnitude
All Nouns 22.16 8.72 22.18 9.97 -0.04 negligible
Plural Nouns 6.03 3.59 5.77 3.76 -0.16 negligible
Singular Nouns 15.50 8.93 15.67 10.23 0.03 negligible
Adjectives 9.83 4.58 9.45 4.86 -0.02 negligible
Adverbs 4.95 3.76 4.89 4.49 0.03 negligible
Verbs 20.92 9.02 21.00 9.77 -0.02 negligible

Part-of-speech (POS) tagging was done using spaCy (Honnibal & Montani, 2017) and the spacyr package (Benoit & Matsuo, 2018). There is one small gender difference (d = \(|0.22|\)) in the use of plural nouns, which make up 5.86% of the words used by female Labour MPs, compared to 5.04% of words spoken by male Labour MPs. As with LIWC, there are no categories where d >= \(|0.2|\) when comparing female Labour MPs by selection process.

3.3 Tokenising / Keyness

The most commonly used words by both men and women would be protocol decorum expressions, so we calculate the keyness of words to identify gender differences in the choices of topics raised by men and women, and by short-list and non-shortlist women.

3.3.1 Men vs Women

Keyness – a linguistic measure of the frequency of different words in two groups of texts – reveals clear gender differences in the most disproportionately common words used by female and male Labour MPs. Unsurprisingly, despite male MPs saying almost twice as many words (65,827,133 vs 34,159,304) as their female colleagues, female Labour MPs were more than two-and-a-half (2.61) times as likely to say “women”. They were also much more likely to use “women’s” and “woman” in parliamentary debate. Female Labour MPs also appear much more likely to discuss “children”, “people”, “care”, “families”, “home”, “parents”, “work” and social policy areas such as “services”, “disabled [people]” and “housing” than their male colleagues. Male MPs were more likely to refer to military topics (“Iraq”, “nuclear”), and to parliamentary process and protocol – “question”, “political”, “conservative”, “electoral”, “house”, “party”, “argument” “liberal” and “point” are far more common in speeches by male Labour MPs than by female ones. This could suggest that male Labour MPs are more comfortable using the traditional language of House of Commons debate, and are more concerned with the rules, procedures and processes of the parliamentary system than their female colleagues.

\label{gender-keyness}Keyness between Labour MPs, by Gender

Keyness between Labour MPs, by Gender

3.3.2 Shortlists vs Non-Shortlists

Keyness differences by selection process are not as obviously stereotypical. Nonetheless, the most common words amongst AWS MPs included “carers”, “disabled”, “bedroom” and “sen” (Special Educational Needs). Also of note is AWS MPs making more references to their “constituency” and its “constituents”, suggesting that AWS MPs may draw on the fact they were elected by their constituents as a source political legitimacy, at least more than non-AWS MPs.

\label{sl-keyness}Keyness between Female Labour MPs, by Selection Process

Keyness between Female Labour MPs, by Selection Process

3.3.3 Labour vs Conservative

The keyness differences between Labour and Conservative MPs are much greater than gender differences within Labour. The very high use of “Lady” by Conservative MPs is reflective of the greater proportion of female MPs in other parties, as it is often used to refer to comments by other members of the house. It may also represent a greater use of traditional hosue decorum by Conservative MPs.

\label{party-keyness}Keyness between Labour and Conservative MPs

Keyness between Labour and Conservative MPs

3.4 Bigrams

We created bigrams of all first person plural and singular pronouns for female Labour MPs. As above, AWS MPs are far more likely to make references to their constituency or their constituents.

\label{bigrams-keyness}Bigram Keyness in Female Labour MPs by Selection Process

Bigram Keyness in Female Labour MPs by Selection Process

3.5 Naive Bayes classification

We trained a Naive Bayes classifier with document-frequency priors and a multinomial distribution to predict the gender of speakers when given speeches by all Labour MPs in our dataset, and the selection process when only given female Labour MPs. The accuracy of both models were roughly equivalent, 70.67% accuracy when predicting gender and 71.22% when predicting shortlists. By contrast, the classifier could distinguish between Labour and Conservative speeches with 74.23% accuracy.

3.6 Topic Models

Using topic models to classify text is widely used in social sciences (Grimmer & Stewart, 2013), as, when combined with the large volume of plain text data available, it allows for a rapid and consistent method of analysis . Topic modelling and other statistic methods of textual analysis are not a substitute for reading the texts themselves, but can augment other analysis or – as in this case – analyse and classify larger amounts of text than would be feasible using human coders (Grimmer & Stewart, 2013). Topic models classify a series of documents (in this case individual speeches) into one of a given number of topics, identifying terms that are common in some documents but rare in others. When developing topic models, there is a trade-off between high precision in the classification of each document with broader topics when using smaller numbers of topics, or lower precision in individual speech classification with more finely-grained topics when using larger numbers of topics. Grimmer & Stewart (2013) also highlight the importance of validating unsurpervised topic models when applied to new sets of texts.

The R package stm (Roberts, Stewart, & Tingley, 2018) implements a structured topic model (STM) (Arora et al., 2013; Roberts, Stewart, & Airoldi, 2016). An STM incorporates data about the writer or speaker into the topic classification algorithm. This differs from traditional topic modelling methods using latent variables to identify topics (e.g. with latent Dirichlet allocation Blei, Ng, & Jordan, 2003), and then comparing proportions of each topic to one or more external variables. STM allows us to incorporate the variables we are interested in to the topic model itself using a generalised linear model; i.e. the proportion of speechs classified as belonging to each topic can vary as a function of the AWS and gender variables.

We incorporated the AWS status of speakers and their gender as covariates into our topic model, using all speeches by Labour MPs.

\label{topic-model-selection}Topic Model Selection

Topic Model Selection

To identify the best number of topics, we created six topic models with different numbers of topics (K). We created models with 30, 45, 60, 80 and 100 topics, and used an algorithm developed by Lee & Mimno (2014), implemented in the stm package (Roberts et al., 2018), which resulted in K = 66. As seen in Figure , the algorithm from Lee & Mimno (2014) appears to produce the best result, a topic model with 66 topics, across 251,072 speeches with a dictionary of 241,625 words. All models were created using the “spectral” method developed by Arora et al. (2013), implemented by Roberts et al. (2018). One of the topics – Topic 66 – was identified as a possibly topic, but was never the most likely topic in the matrix of number of documents by number of topics – labelled \(\theta\) by Roberts et al. (2018), and so while it is included in the model, assignment of single topics to speeches uses the highest \(\theta\) for each speech. Other topics are rarely used – Topic 53, which we labelled “Dispatch Box”, only has five topics assigned to it, four from Male MPs and one from an AWS MP.

3.6.1 Shortlists vs Non-Shortlists

We created a Fruchterman-Reingold (Fruchterman & Reingold, 1991) diagram (Figure ) to show the connections between different topics. Larger vertices indicate more common topics, and the plot uses a colour scale to indicate the proportion of speeches classed in that topic made by AWS and non-AWS female Labour MPs. The space between vertices indicate the closeness or distance of two topics. E.g. closer vertices represent topics with more overlapping words than more distant topics.

\label{k0-network}Fruchterman-Reingold plot of k0 Network

Fruchterman-Reingold plot of k0 Network

Topic Estimates
Estimate Standard Error t value Pr(>|t|)
Topic 1 – Employment & unions
Intercept 0.0117293 0.0003265 35.9229375 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0010013 0.0003917 -2.5560852 0.011
Men 0.0003337 0.0003501 0.9533037 0.34
Topic 2 – Legal system
Intercept 0.0237673 0.0004426 53.7032696 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0103830 0.0004923 -21.0892490 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0070596 0.0004687 -15.0610097 < 0.001 ***
Topic 3 – Roads
Intercept 0.0102028 0.0003492 29.2159550 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0004374 0.0004409 -0.9920033 0.32
Men 0.0014442 0.0003970 3.6376843 < 0.001 ***
Topic 4 – Housing
Intercept 0.0157555 0.0004302 36.6205329 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0015909 0.0005400 2.9460710 0.003 **
Men -0.0044874 0.0004786 -9.3768098 < 0.001 ***
Topic 5 – Police, firefighters & prison
Intercept 0.0173574 0.0004351 39.8969615 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0036291 0.0005530 -6.5624923 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0032971 0.0004727 -6.9753678 < 0.001 ***
Topic 6 – Northern Ireland
Intercept 0.0090221 0.0001120 80.5664090 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0004340 0.0001343 -3.2306114 0.001 **
Men -0.0000588 0.0001205 -0.4875685 0.63
Topic 7 – Committee
Intercept 0.0205896 0.0003505 58.7503260 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0012582 0.0004192 -3.0014762 0.003 **
Men 0.0007352 0.0003663 2.0074731 0.045
Topic 8 – Schools
Intercept 0.0137290 0.0004676 29.3601167 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0030492 0.0005829 5.2306431 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0010367 0.0005043 2.0557566 0.040
Topic 9 – Energy & climate change
Intercept 0.0158405 0.0005106 31.0203384 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0023065 0.0006084 -3.7913302 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0011314 0.0005556 2.0362465 0.042
Topic 10 – Defence
Intercept 0.0081750 0.0004488 18.2132671 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0022589 0.0005207 4.3380074 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0076142 0.0004699 16.2027698 < 0.001 ***
Topic 11 – Parliament
Intercept 0.0081994 0.0001755 46.7284520 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0026092 0.0002237 11.6662958 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0036992 0.0001904 19.4256979 < 0.001 ***
Topic 12 – International politics
Intercept 0.0084607 0.0003026 27.9560687 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0013337 0.0003621 -3.6835860 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0041934 0.0003371 12.4396572 < 0.001 ***
Topic 13 – Ministers
Intercept 0.0138491 0.0002584 53.5943814 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0060202 0.0003288 18.3076055 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0028971 0.0002826 10.2500492 < 0.001 ***
Topic 14 – Policy impact
Intercept 0.0118057 0.0001146 103.0353298 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0010850 0.0001425 7.6121479 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0002660 0.0001210 -2.1989509 0.028
Topic 15 – Gender
Intercept 0.0173153 0.0003925 44.1143113 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0003599 0.0004682 -0.7686723 0.44
Men -0.0124314 0.0003951 -31.4628115 < 0.001 ***
Topic 16 – Regional development
Intercept 0.0302478 0.0002819 107.3185086 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0069433 0.0003475 -19.9787322 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0072041 0.0003139 -22.9512530 < 0.001 ***
Topic 17 – Communications
Intercept 0.0090915 0.0002875 31.6210394 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0005277 0.0003290 -1.6038348 0.11
Men 0.0006568 0.0003074 2.1366737 0.033
Topic 18 – Immigration
Intercept 0.0094290 0.0002129 44.2879525 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0011745 0.0002571 -4.5690616 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0007350 0.0002316 -3.1735568 0.002 **
Topic 19 – Health system
Intercept 0.0275233 0.0005157 53.3703952 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0049952 0.0006407 -7.7962889 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0113568 0.0005738 -19.7924994 < 0.001 ***
Topic 20 – International development
Intercept 0.0165058 0.0004885 33.7876752 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0038420 0.0005626 -6.8292777 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0004560 0.0005183 -0.8798630 0.38
Topic 21 – Benefits & disability
Intercept 0.0129030 0.0003794 34.0065782 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0111579 0.0004627 24.1141591 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0008280 0.0004026 -2.0565363 0.040
Topic 22 – Sport & culture
Intercept 0.0102223 0.0003471 29.4528191 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0031663 0.0004470 7.0833239 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0024897 0.0003954 6.2974174 < 0.001 ***
Topic 23 – History
Intercept 0.0076529 0.0002277 33.6140265 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0021342 0.0002825 7.5542636 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0060746 0.0002510 24.2024434 < 0.001 ***
Topic 24 – Higher education & skills
Intercept 0.0133129 0.0004092 32.5311711 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0008458 0.0005069 1.6685611 0.095
Men 0.0010407 0.0004441 2.3434975 0.019
Topic 25 – Concurring point
Intercept 0.0135965 0.0001095 124.1478785 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0011169 0.0001369 -8.1566463 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0018820 0.0001199 15.6905274 < 0.001 ***
Topic 26 – Pensions
Intercept 0.0153734 0.0003769 40.7921511 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0020502 0.0004754 4.3123169 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0006438 0.0004162 -1.5466952 0.12
Topic 27 – Points of order
Intercept 0.0112390 0.0002969 37.8547674 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0017422 0.0003435 5.0713744 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0065973 0.0003179 20.7512698 < 0.001 ***
Topic 28 – Issues
Intercept 0.0415230 0.0002561 162.1644690 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0096543 0.0003259 -29.6238529 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0070418 0.0002740 -25.7041381 < 0.001 ***
Topic 29 – Constituencies
Intercept 0.0142783 0.0001244 114.7998010 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0018606 0.0001599 11.6386483 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0010999 0.0001399 -7.8613191 < 0.001 ***
Topic 30 – Ethnic groups & racism
Intercept 0.0105215 0.0002009 52.3711531 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0000386 0.0002463 -0.1565624 0.88
Men -0.0019437 0.0002127 -9.1370020 < 0.001 ***
Topic 31 – Amendments
Intercept 0.0132683 0.0003943 33.6518657 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0016187 0.0005022 -3.2233676 0.001 **
Men 0.0017199 0.0004485 3.8343595 < 0.001 ***
Topic 32 – Reports
Intercept 0.0181610 0.0002731 66.4919467 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0001533 0.0003295 0.4652214 0.64
Men -0.0011864 0.0002988 -3.9704983 < 0.001 ***
Topic 33 – People
Intercept 0.0354711 0.0002747 129.1097920 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0012343 0.0003350 3.6840510 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0022768 0.0003020 7.5394479 < 0.001 ***
Topic 34 – Wales & Scotland
Intercept 0.0087640 0.0003532 24.8115542 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0024673 0.0004284 5.7594006 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0047894 0.0003815 12.5533013 < 0.001 ***
Topic 35 – Alcohol & tobacco
Intercept 0.0099309 0.0003934 25.2461470 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0022555 0.0004723 4.7755180 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0009243 0.0004249 2.1752110 0.030
Topic 36 – Place names
Intercept 0.0084177 0.0001683 50.0262769 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0011394 0.0001943 5.8631456 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0000611 0.0001809 -0.3378675 0.74
Topic 37 – Budget
Intercept 0.0223751 0.0004285 52.2169657 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0029730 0.0005221 5.6940210 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0022528 0.0004679 4.8144816 < 0.001 ***
Topic 38 – Tax
Intercept 0.0179353 0.0004635 38.6935102 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0069110 0.0005804 11.9075354 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0014154 0.0005128 2.7602415 0.006 **
Topic 39 – Private companies
Intercept 0.0129346 0.0003251 39.7926296 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0024247 0.0003749 -6.4679740 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0005574 0.0003443 -1.6191062 0.11
Topic 40 – Environment & fishing
Intercept 0.0063004 0.0003159 19.9435303 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0010055 0.0003948 2.5468657 0.011
Men 0.0031572 0.0003469 9.1009323 < 0.001 ***
Topic 41 – Crime
Intercept 0.0227176 0.0004926 46.1214787 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0052100 0.0006485 -8.0334463 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0086317 0.0005406 -15.9673915 < 0.001 ***
Topic 42 – Bills
Intercept 0.0265455 0.0004373 60.7092286 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0050558 0.0005059 -9.9927473 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0021254 0.0004679 -4.5421291 < 0.001 ***
Topic 43 – Children
Intercept 0.0168410 0.0003635 46.3335674 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0004441 0.0004285 1.0363559 0.30
Men -0.0091613 0.0003643 -25.1467096 < 0.001 ***
Topic 44 – Utilities & PFI
Intercept 0.0115949 0.0002094 55.3799410 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0010239 0.0002797 3.6601509 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0007618 0.0002291 3.3254506 < 0.001 ***
Topic 45 – Middle East
Intercept 0.0146987 0.0005523 26.6126307 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0009502 0.0006461 1.4706954 0.14
Men 0.0027723 0.0005999 4.6214373 < 0.001 ***
Topic 46 – Local authorities
Intercept 0.0222754 0.0003889 57.2794054 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0041265 0.0004790 -8.6149378 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0042817 0.0004210 -10.1706503 < 0.001 ***
Topic 47 – Elections
Intercept 0.0089868 0.0003732 24.0834565 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0022867 0.0004628 4.9407579 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0092117 0.0004143 22.2366792 < 0.001 ***
Topic 48 – Debate
Intercept 0.0145013 0.0001694 85.5989488 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0024682 0.0002201 11.2138470 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0035042 0.0001820 19.2564073 < 0.001 ***
Topic 49 – Transport
Intercept 0.0136513 0.0004674 29.2047554 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0037373 0.0005495 6.8015254 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0028003 0.0005334 5.2503520 < 0.001 ***
Topic 50 – Questions
Intercept 0.0162856 0.0001742 93.4755707 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0001110 0.0002273 0.4881722 0.63
Men -0.0001163 0.0001918 -0.6065259 0.54
Topic 51 – Families
Intercept 0.0120526 0.0003133 38.4753026 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0039033 0.0003881 10.0567601 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0019514 0.0003235 -6.0318480 < 0.001 ***
Topic 52 – Health research
Intercept 0.0165420 0.0004632 35.7104048 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0041452 0.0005768 -7.1861974 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0077711 0.0004907 -15.8373261 < 0.001 ***
Topic 53 – Dispatch box
Intercept 0.0064128 0.0000583 110.0515217 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0001883 0.0000754 2.4969121 0.013
Men 0.0011404 0.0000649 17.5829883 < 0.001 ***
Topic 54 – Parties
Intercept 0.0182173 0.0003294 55.3061719 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0006025 0.0003943 1.5282419 0.13
Men 0.0065954 0.0003576 18.4412214 < 0.001 ***
Topic 55 – Statements
Intercept 0.0166560 0.0001709 97.4505160 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0029678 0.0002089 14.2036543 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0045004 0.0001845 24.3869846 < 0.001 ***
Topic 56 – European Union
Intercept 0.0138231 0.0004121 33.5403197 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0028693 0.0004899 -5.8575016 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0025373 0.0004589 5.5288586 < 0.001 ***
Topic 57 – Locations
Intercept 0.0076035 0.0002284 33.2860565 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0024954 0.0002981 8.3698996 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0024334 0.0002469 9.8548887 < 0.001 ***
Topic 58 – Jobs & manufacturing
Intercept 0.0158321 0.0004535 34.9095464 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0029878 0.0005815 5.1376590 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0017569 0.0004690 3.7461544 < 0.001 ***
Topic 59 – Small business
Intercept 0.0076018 0.0001803 42.1695772 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0008847 0.0002135 -4.1429385 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0005124 0.0001926 -2.6603523 0.008 **
Topic 60 – Agreement & disagreement
Intercept 0.0239422 0.0002724 87.8797300 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0019971 0.0003095 -6.4532664 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0089018 0.0002907 30.6202123 < 0.001 ***
Topic 61 – Voluntary sector
Intercept 0.0297649 0.0003695 80.5462637 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0053496 0.0004420 -12.1031545 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0110179 0.0003997 -27.5681990 < 0.001 ***
Topic 62 – Comments
Intercept 0.0123738 0.0001540 80.3723165 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0011508 0.0001876 -6.1327653 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0028889 0.0001684 17.1576417 < 0.001 ***
Topic 63 – Social care
Intercept 0.0185639 0.0003583 51.8090125 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist -0.0021038 0.0004626 -4.5476135 < 0.001 ***
Men -0.0094873 0.0003931 -24.1315296 < 0.001 ***
Topic 64 – Time
Intercept 0.0192974 0.0001794 107.5620807 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0004407 0.0001988 2.2172156 0.027
Men 0.0020854 0.0001932 10.7939903 < 0.001 ***
Topic 65 – Media & animals
Intercept 0.0063578 0.0003538 17.9711224 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0039731 0.0004477 8.8753280 < 0.001 ***
Men 0.0057876 0.0003792 15.2628369 < 0.001 ***
Topic 66 – Other
Intercept 0.0040907 0.0000274 149.5004561 < 0.001 ***
Shortlist 0.0000454 0.0000369 1.2276619 0.22
Men -0.0002613 0.0000295 -8.8644823 < 0.001 ***
Count and Distribution of Topics – k0
Topic AWS Speeches Percent of AWS Speeches Non-AWS Speeches Percent of non-AWS Speeches Male MP Speeches Percent of Male MP Speeches
  1. Employment & unions
453 0.84% 260 0.93% 2,154 1.27%
  1. Legal system
866 1.61% 1,098 3.94% 3,882 2.29%
  1. Roads
558 1.04% 298 1.07% 2,141 1.26%
  1. Housing
1,384 2.57% 664 2.38% 2,416 1.43%
  1. Police, firefighters & prison
1,046 1.94% 710 2.55% 3,349 1.98%
  1. Northern Ireland
221 0.41% 66 0.24% 604 0.36%
  1. Committee
1,049 1.95% 492 1.77% 3,885 2.29%
  1. Schools
1,368 2.54% 522 1.87% 3,780 2.23%
  1. Energy & climate change
1,105 2.05% 746 2.68% 4,628 2.73%
  1. Defence
793 1.47% 280 1% 3,999 2.36%
  1. Parliament
376 0.7% 85 0.31% 1,081 0.64%
  1. International politics
290 0.54% 161 0.58% 2,026 1.2%
  1. Ministers
874 1.62% 241 0.86% 2,085 1.23%
  1. Policy impact
242 0.45% 68 0.24% 417 0.25%
  1. Gender
1,258 2.34% 702 2.52% 553 0.33%
  1. Regional development
932 1.73% 709 2.54% 2,712 1.6%
  1. Communications
385 0.72% 287 1.03% 1,742 1.03%
  1. Immigration
422 0.78% 219 0.79% 1,212 0.72%
  1. Health system
2,146 3.99% 1,489 5.34% 4,684 2.76%
  1. International development
861 1.6% 687 2.47% 3,722 2.2%
  1. Benefits & disability
1,890 3.51% 317 1.14% 2,100 1.24%
  1. Sport & culture
846 1.57% 317 1.14% 2,627 1.55%
  1. History
299 0.56% 140 0.5% 1,720 1.02%
  1. Higher education & skills
976 1.81% 455 1.63% 3,503 2.07%
  1. Concurring point
33 0.06% 9 0.03% 136 0.08%
  1. Pensions
1,230 2.29% 527 1.89% 2,980 1.76%
  1. Points of order
788 1.47% 230 0.83% 4,069 2.4%
  1. Issues
1,619 3.01% 1,721 6.18% 6,743 3.98%
  1. Constituencies
125 0.23% 30 0.11% 227 0.13%
  1. Ethnic groups & racism
454 0.84% 203 0.73% 946 0.56%
  1. Amendments
526 0.98% 317 1.14% 2,294 1.35%
  1. Reports
537 1% 322 1.16% 1,491 0.88%
  1. People
2,816 5.24% 1,049 3.76% 9,128 5.39%
  1. Wales & Scotland
661 1.23% 225 0.81% 2,659 1.57%
  1. Alcohol & tobacco
845 1.57% 336 1.21% 2,359 1.39%
  1. Place names
163 0.3% 47 0.17% 446 0.26%
  1. Budget
1,615 3% 665 2.39% 5,568 3.29%
  1. Tax
2,148 3.99% 691 2.48% 4,557 2.69%
  1. Private companies
453 0.84% 363 1.3% 1,795 1.06%
  1. Environment & fishing
434 0.81% 186 0.67% 1,690 1%
  1. Crime
1,409 2.62% 925 3.32% 3,075 1.82%
  1. Bills
1,198 2.23% 931 3.34% 4,538 2.68%
  1. Children
1,174 2.18% 631 2.26% 1,299 0.77%
  1. Utilities & PFI
434 0.81% 175 0.63% 1,418 0.84%
  1. Middle East
1,285 2.39% 587 2.11% 4,539 2.68%
  1. Local authorities
1,051 1.95% 711 2.55% 3,687 2.18%
  1. Elections
758 1.41% 240 0.86% 4,309 2.54%
  1. Debate
423 0.79% 128 0.46% 1,365 0.81%
  1. Transport
1,518 2.82% 547 1.96% 4,169 2.46%
  1. Questions
390 0.73% 182 0.65% 1,116 0.66%
  1. Families
786 1.46% 276 0.99% 1,170 0.69%
  1. Health research
745 1.39% 592 2.12% 1,468 0.87%
  1. Dispatch box
1 0% NA NA% 4 0%
  1. Parties
882 1.64% 439 1.58% 5,053 2.98%
  1. Statements
180 0.33% 79 0.28% 860 0.51%
  1. European Union
768 1.43% 554 1.99% 3,945 2.33%
  1. Locations
299 0.56% 126 0.45% 1,111 0.66%
  1. Jobs & manufacturing
1,424 2.65% 587 2.11% 4,158 2.45%
  1. Small business
230 0.43% 183 0.66% 793 0.47%
  1. Agreement & disagreement
524 0.97% 275 0.99% 4,965 2.93%
  1. Voluntary sector
1,303 2.42% 854 3.06% 2,478 1.46%
  1. Comments
108 0.2% 95 0.34% 866 0.51%
  1. Social care
862 1.6% 520 1.87% 1,185 0.7%
  1. Time
208 0.39% 103 0.37% 928 0.55%
  1. Media & animals
741 1.38% 189 0.68% 2,812 1.66%
\label{k0-topic-pyramid-plot}K0 Pyramid Chart

K0 Pyramid Chart

\label{k0-topic-bar-plot}k0 Bar Chart

k0 Bar Chart

3.6.1.1 Word Occurences

The table below shows the twenty most common words in each topic, and the twenty words with the highest FREX score, a measure that uses a harmonic mean of word exclusivity and topic coherence (Airoldi & Bischof, 2016). We have named each topic based on the most common words and highest FREX score words in each topic.

Words in topic - k0
Topic Number Top Twenty Words Top Twenty FREX
  1. Employment & unions
rights, workers, law, human, civil, trade, union, employers, protection, act, employment, unions, safety, employees, work, service, staff, employer, legislation, protect tupe, blacklisting, acas, rights, gangmasters, civil, dispute, protections, unions, dismissal, servants, disputes, human, workers, employer, num, certification, employees, tuc, employers
  1. Legal system
cases, court, legal, case, justice, law, courts, evidence, lord, appeal, system, criminal, judicial, investigation, judge, aid, prosecution, circumstances, trial, lawyers judicial, attorney-general, court, judges, prosecutor, carlile, defendant, extradition, cps, judiciary, admissible, pre-charge, jury, solicitors, lawyers, solicitor, courts, lawyer, detention, judge
  1. Roads
road, planning, site, land, sites, car, vehicles, residents, roads, safety, use, driving, vehicle, park, development, traffic, drivers, area, cars, speed bikes, cyclists, pedestrians, gypsy, off-road, cycling, encampments, parking, highways, masts, drivers, belt, roads, highway, road, gypsies, vehicles, site, vehicle, bike
  1. Housing
housing, homes, social, affordable, property, home, properties, london, accommodation, building, private, houses, tenants, rent, need, council, landlords, sector, buy, people tenants, rent, landlords, rented, homelessness, rents, leaseholders, leasehold, tenancy, commonhold, hmos, housing, one-bedroom, homeless, properties, right-to-buy, affordable, sleepers, fulham, landlord
  1. Police, firefighters & prison
police, officers, crime, policing, service, fire, prison, home, force, chief, community, officer, staff, forces, neighbourhood, probation, prisons, safety, prisoners, resources policing, firefighters, constables, pcsos, probation, csos, prisons, fire, constable, hmic, constabulary, officers, police, prison, prisoners, reoffending, neighbourhood, metropolitan, fires, ipcc
  1. Northern Ireland
make, sure, progress, northern, decisions, ireland, difference, towards, future, process, contribution, statement, responsibilities, easier, responsibility, must, departmental, belfast, friday, choices sinn, fein, make, sure, belfast, northern, progress, ulster, difference, ireland, ruc, decisions, patten, dissident, departmental, antrim, taoiseach, imc, chastelain, dpps
  1. Committee
committee, report, review, commission, independent, government, select, process, evidence, inquiry, scrutiny, recommendations, role, board, set, work, reports, public, published, parliament committee’s, select, inquiry, scrutiny, committee, recommendations, committees, independent, recommendation, panel, pre-legislative, report, chairman, review, reviews, scrutinise, inquiries, conclusions, publication, findings
  1. Schools
schools, school, education, teachers, pupils, primary, children, standards, educational, special, secondary, parents, free, teacher, teaching, head, academies, academy, curriculum, good schools, teachers, pupils, academies, pupil, grammar, classroom, leas, school’s, academisation, school, teacher, bsf, academy, headteachers, ofsted, literacy, curriculum, lea, classrooms
  1. Energy & climate change
energy, climate, change, fuel, carbon, gas, power, emissions, waste, nuclear, prices, wind, green, environmental, electricity, oil, industry, efficiency, renewable, price energy, carbon, electricity, renewable, renewables, solar, ofgem, greenhouse, co2, ccs, feed-in, biofuels, microgeneration, fossil, sellafield, decarbonisation, chp, shale, mw, bnfl
  1. Defence
defence, forces, armed, afghanistan, service, military, personnel, army, security, troops, support, ministry, royal, veterans, british, force, capability, iraq, equipment, also armed, veterans, mod, regiment, legion, servicemen, reservists, helmand, battalion, ta, hms, gurkhas, regiments, marines, gurkha, fusiliers, ex-service, eurofighter, isaf, afghan
  1. Parliament
house, leader, motion, commons, therefore, parliament, petition, parliamentary, government, urge, present, signed, table, notes, library, behalf, remain, floor, westminster, request petitioners, declares, petition, house, motion, urges, commons, serjeant, recess, notes, leader, motions, lobbyist, thursday, e-petitions, early-day, house’s, tuesday, session, lobbying
  1. International politics
united, states, agreement, kingdom, foreign, treaty, council, security, us, nuclear, president, co-operation, convention, nations, national, policy, article, russia, international, position lisbon, ratification, treaty, non-proliferation, treaties, qmv, veto, ratified, gibraltar, ukraine, russia, protocol, agreement, states, united, ratify, kingdom’s, russian, hague, disarmament
  1. Ministers
secretary, state, statement, ministers, today, confirm, department, government’s, explain, yesterday, home, plans, announcement, government, welcome, chief, state’s, urgent, ministerial, announced secretary, state, state’s, confirm, ministers, yesterday, announcement, ministerial, explain, statement, expects, urgent, intends, assurances, yesterday’s, secretaries, secretary’s, update, leaked, cabinet
  1. Policy impact
made, clear, number, decision, impact, changes, recent, assessment, effect, level, discussions, likely, proposed, colleagues, potential, representations, implications, analysis, effects, result made, clear, decision, assessment, recent, changes, impact, representations, implications, effect, discussions, analysis, assess, implementation, estimate, level, number, negative, outcome, colleagues
  1. Gender
women, men, violence, equality, domestic, age, discrimination, women’s, equal, pay, woman, girls, gender, sexual, sex, female, gap, government, maternity, male women’s, gender, transgender, breastfeeding, refuges, women, abortions, fgm, shortlists, female, male, equality, girls, all-women, gay, equalities, lesbian, men, pregnancy, fawcett
  1. Regional development
new, development, future, programme, national, strategy, government, regional, key, plan, department, welcome, paper, set, ensure, commitment, support, improve, need, deliver strategy, regional, programme, projects, paper, plan, project, deliver, white, key, development, delivering, develop, priorities, partnership, improve, framework, new, priority, improving
  1. Communications
office, post, bank, banks, rural, offices, services, service, royal, banking, network, mail, closure, access, areas, broadband, card, staff, account, closures offices, mail, sub-postmasters, sub-post, superfast, post, postwatch, postcomm, consignia, broadband, rbs, office, mail’s, banking, bank, lloyds, ons, branches, uso, banks
  1. Immigration
british, uk, rules, home, immigration, citizens, asylum, identity, status, country, overseas, application, indicated, applications, apply, border, abroad, cards, migration, entry passports, nationality, dissent, immigration, passport, indicated, points-based, identity, asylum, nationals, visa, dependencies, migration, migrants, biometric, overseas, citizen, entry, abroad, monarch
  1. Health system
health, nhs, hospital, service, patients, services, mental, trust, staff, hospitals, care, trusts, patient, primary, waiting, doctors, nurses, e, gp, emergency in-patient, helier, nurses, chcs, nhs, ccgs, ccg, sha, hospital’s, hospital, fundholding, pct, hospitals, mental, gp, healthwatch, orthopaedic, walk-in, trusts, reconfiguration
  1. International development
international, countries, world, aid, development, government, developing, africa, global, uk, support, trade, poverty, country, india, assistance, un, need, also, nations zimbabwe, dfid, burma, congo, cdc, kenya, burmese, doha, uganda, mugabe, sub-saharan, g8, zimbabwean, dfid’s, gleneagles, african, sri, lanka, cancun, nigeria
  1. Benefits & disability
people, benefit, work, benefits, disabled, support, allowance, welfare, employment, disability, system, government, help, universal, credit, reform, get, vulnerable, plus, living incapacity, dla, esa, jobcentre, disabled, jobseeker’s, jsa, disability, allowance, dwp, claimants, atos, benefit, plus, claiming, pip, motability, benefits, deaf, bedroom
  1. Sport & culture
city, centre, town, sport, football, community, liverpool, sports, club, constituency, clubs, culture, london, great, facilities, one, bid, games, towns, regeneration football, olympic, museum, museums, stadium, athletes, cricket, paralympic, games, gospels, sports, club, sporting, fans, cup, rugby, arts, olympics, sport, galleries
  1. History
history, former, world, tribute, great, day, never, proud, first, remember, new, john, campaign, century, parliament, pay, also, war, today, sir maiden, miners, memorial, predecessors, tony, hillsborough, martin, james, john, william, andrew, margaret, anniversary, peter, alan, fought, memories, harold, churchill, edward
  1. Higher education & skills
education, skills, students, university, training, higher, young, universities, college, learning, science, apprenticeships, colleges, fees, student, funding, research, system, qualifications, courses universities, student, apprenticeship, fe, graduates, ema, graduate, students, colleges, diploma, apprenticeships, vocational, leitch, esol, qualifications, courses, university, undergraduate, tuition, sixth-form
  1. Concurring point
point, agree, country, making, makes, absolutely, whole, much, good, part, friend’s, entirely, completely, kind, sense, giving, rather, share, precisely, parts agree, absolutely, makes, friend’s, point, precisely, making, entirely, completely, kind, whole, sense, direction, mentions, refers, gentleman’s, describes, powerful, danger, exactly
  1. Pensions
scheme, pension, credit, pensions, insurance, schemes, pensioners, payments, compensation, fund, payment, money, financial, paid, savings, debt, retirement, government, pay, income pension, annuity, policyholders, annuities, auto-enrolment, insurance, retirement, loan, payments, payday, scheme, compensation, equitable, premiums, payment, pensions, means-testing, lenders, savers, pensioners
  1. Points of order
question, order, mr, put, speaker, deputy, point, grateful, read, agreed, record, time, minutes, may, call, standing, correct, apologise, madam, interventions speaker, mr, madam, question, forthwith, deputy, apologise, order, o’clock, read, minutes, adjourned, accordingly, interventions, hansard, tomorrow, grateful, misled, correct, courtesy
  1. Issues
important, issue, can, issues, take, ensure, hope, need, matter, consider, possible, place, also, concerns, deal, particular, course, taken, concern, raised issues, issue, important, concerns, consider, possible, discuss, concern, particular, matter, considering, carefully, assure, understand, extremely, raised, addressed, obviously, address, expressed
  1. Constituencies
many, constituency, constituents, problems, welcome, particularly, people, often, hard, face, others, feel, especially, country, worked, pay, concerned, represent, thousands, large many, constituents, problems, hard, mine, difficulties, worked, represent, faced, feel, constituencies, thousands, hundreds, face, greatly, often, constituency, especially, worried, particularly
  1. Ethnic groups & racism
action, taking, community, steps, taken, communities, take, actions, society, prevent, faith, groups, minority, church, black, ethnic, religious, freedom, race, diversity religion, faiths, sikh, steps, racial, faith, sikhs, religious, priests, synod, beliefs, church, racism, taking, action, anglican, ethnic, hate, clergy, hatred
  1. Amendments
clause, amendment, amendments, new, lords, section, 1, tabled, 2, clauses, line, 3, leave, act, shall, move, beg, 4, page, schedule insert, nos, subsection1, amendmenta, amendment, subsection5, 1a, schedule, amendmentsa, amendments, subsection2, subsection6, clause, tabled, paragrapha, subsection, subsection3, andc, paragraphb, clauses
  1. Reports
year, since, report, number, figures, official, march, april, published, 1997, figure, statistics, 15, 30, show, january, 2010, july, june, december vol, october, march, official, february, july, january, november, june, april, 2011, statistics, since, 2009, 2007, december, 2005, figures, 2013, figure
  1. People
people, want, get, one, go, can, think, see, need, know, say, things, much, like, good, problem, going, done, something, put things, get, something, go, lot, want, talking, thing, trying, talk, think, really, quite, bit, else, happen, away, getting, enough, idea
  1. Wales & Scotland
wales, scotland, scottish, england, welsh, assembly, parliament, devolution, uk, devolved, government, powers, kingdom, national, english, united, glasgow, executive, snp, edinburgh scotland, scottish, welsh, snp, scotland’s, cymru, barnett, plaid, perth, wishart, holyrood, perthshirepete, wales, snp’s, assembly, devolved, dundee, scots, devolution, calman
  1. Alcohol & tobacco
food, industry, alcohol, licensing, products, smoking, shops, shop, tobacco, advertising, health, standards, pub, pubs, high, buy, drinking, supermarkets, problem, retailers tobacco, pubs, gambling, betting, labelling, drinks, cigarettes, casinos, smokers, cigarette, groceries, lap-dancing, vending, drinkers, supermarkets, fluoride, smoking, pubcos, retailers, pub
  1. Place names
thank, south, north, constituency, excellent, join, congratulate, manchester, area, yorkshire, north-west, reply, visit, greater, visited, also, bristol, giving, nottingham, region thank, wrexham, reddish, tameside, congratulating, newport, yorkshire, stockport, blaenau, derbyshire, south, north-west, stoke-on-trent, denbighshire, denton, nottingham, bristol, newingtonms, welcoming, congratulations
  1. Budget
million, budget, year, billion, cuts, chancellor, spending, cut, increase, money, government, 1, funding, extra, next, investment, deficit, financial, crisis, growth deficit, obr, billion, spending, budget, real-terms, forecast, million, borrowing, cuts, gdp, chancellor, cut, 2.5, chancellor’s, forecasts, 2010-11, 1.2, 1.5, finances
  1. Tax
tax, pay, rate, income, wage, families, minimum, living, low, poverty, working, vat, increase, government, paid, national, paying, credits, average, poorest tax, millionaires, 50p, vat, taxes, credits, wage, taxation, avoidance, incomes, rate, zero-hours, wages, 45p, earning, revaluation, income, richest, earners, regressive
  1. Private companies
companies, company, market, financial, industry, competition, consumers, interest, consumer, assets, services, profits, markets, ownership, regulator, share, corporate, interests, customers, societies mutuals, shareholders, provident, company, companies, competition, profits, corporate, shares, societies, company’s, co-operative, fsa, profit, co-operatives, directors, rock, regulator, assets, asset
  1. Environment & fishing
environment, sea, fishing, marine, fisheries, industry, natural, fish, port, environmental, water, ports, rural, coastal, protection, conservation, fishermen, areas, management, area fishing, fisheries, fishermen, cod, seas, whitby, coastguard, broads, cfp, angling, seafarers, anglers, inshore, discards, mmo, under-10, sssis, dredging, cockle, aonbs
  1. Crime
crime, behaviour, victims, offence, criminal, serious, abuse, offences, antisocial, home, use, measures, drugs, drug, enforcement, offenders, problem, tackle, law, justice sentences, asbos, cannabis, antisocial, offences, offence, trafficking, gangs, behaviour, penalty, sentencing, sentence, theft, criminals, custodial, offending, knife, heroin, offenders, convicted
  1. Bills
bill, legislation, act, new, powers, provisions, regulations, power, place, provision, duty, apply, statutory, necessary, allow, provide, set, already, introduce, require provisions, bill, bill’s, definition, legislation, regulations, statutory, passage, seeks, requirement, drafted, draft, statute, intention, safeguards, purpose, consult, legislative, amend, covered
  1. Children
children, child, parents, families, children’s, support, poverty, family, young, needs, parent, start, adoption, adults, vulnerable, early, contact, must, need, autism autism, csa, looked-after, adoptive, child, adopters, children’s, autistic, cafcass, nspcc, children, child’s, parent, dyslexia, adoption, kinship, childcare, intercountry, parents, lone
  1. Utilities & PFI
public, private, sector, money, costs, cost, risk, value, management, service, water, government, contracts, contract, system, audit, flood, systems, agency, taxpayer id, flood, nao, ofwat, public, contracts, auditor, private, purse, contractors, audit, pac, pfi, flooding, floods, taxpayer, contract, comptroller, defences, tendering
  1. Middle East
security, government, peace, war, foreign, people, iraq, terrorism, international, conflict, threat, support, must, un, military, syria, israel, resolution, terrorist, refugees syria, israel, palestinian, israeli, gaza, palestinians, syrian, saddam, arab, hamas, saudi, daesh, palestine, isil, israelis, hussein, lebanon, atrocities, assad, two-state
  1. Local authorities
local, authorities, council, authority, areas, government, funding, area, councils, communities, county, grant, planning, community, central, formula, borough, locally, level, resources local, authorities, councillors, councils, authority, unitary, county, formula, grant, lga, localism, locally, swindon, allocations, allocation, deprived, council, parish, authority’s, deprivation
  1. Elections
vote, political, parliament, electoral, election, elections, elected, parties, people, voting, referendum, democracy, register, system, registration, democratic, commission, party, votes, majority electoral, voters, turnout, voter, all-postal, votes, vote, voting, polling, first-past-the-post, av, referendums, elections, unelected, registration, ballot, candidates, electors, electorate, elected
  1. Debate
members, debate, speech, heard, today, hope, opportunity, speak, hear, chamber, great, wish, support, time, pleased, debates, sides, like, follow, subject debate, speech, members, debates, speeches, speak, heard, listened, sides, debating, hear, speaking, tonight, pleasure, chamber, thoughtful, listening, afternoon, queen’s, cross-party
  1. Transport
london, transport, rail, bus, services, line, network, travel, airport, train, air, service, passengers, trains, railway, station, east, capacity, passenger, heathrow rail, bus, passengers, trains, passenger, heathrow, railways, fares, freight, crossrail, hs2, high-speed, runway, electrification, airlines, gatwick, caa, baa, sra, thameslink
  1. Questions
whether, information, may, answer, asked, ask, questions, response, available, advice, received, data, know, press, written, letter, department, meeting, details, officials answer, information, questions, answers, data, written, details, letter, write, ask, officials, answered, asked, whether, informed, press, website, correspondence, response, requests
  1. Families
family, life, families, lives, constituent, death, home, people, told, case, one, man, died, lost, mrs, person, mother, day, marriage, suffered husband, mum, daughter, married, constituent, mrs, son, mother, marriage, died, father, wife, same-sex, death, loved, dad, suicide, funeral, bereaved, sister
  1. Health research
research, treatment, cancer, medical, disease, health, drugs, condition, can, use, drug, patients, screening, risk, also, conditions, evidence, group, diseases, diagnosis screening, asbestos, tissue, embryos, cancers, hepatitis, genetic, prostate, epilepsy, cloning, pleural, fertilisation, embryo, embryonic, ivf, anaemia, embryology, piercing, hfea, bowel
  1. Dispatch box
back, come, look, forward, bring, moment, coming, comes, side, later, brought, along, bringing, round, looking, box, see, putting, sit, dispatch come, back, look, moment, coming, forward, dispatch, comes, side, box, oh, surprise, bring, round, hoping, bringing, sooner, straight, along, sit
  1. Parties
government, labour, conservative, party, opposition, policy, previous, liberal, conservatives, government’s, support, election, tory, front, democrats, coalition, benches, policies, general, fact conservative, conservatives, liberal, democrats, lib, tory, democrat, benches, tories, opposition, manifesto, party’s, labour, benchers, dem, opposition’s, front-bench, party, spokesman, bench
  1. Statements
us, said, just, let, say, now, tell, says, yet, saying, told, know, going, nothing, wrong, even, wants, words, minister’s, today tell, says, let, wants, actually, us, saying, minister’s, telling, truth, wrong, wonder, thinks, nothing, promise, afraid, mistake, blame, admit, honest
  1. European Union
european, eu, europe, union, countries, uk, britain, trade, single, british, negotiations, market, economic, france, germany, country, leave, membership, referendum, world euro, ttip, brexit, accession, eu, currencies, cypriots, european, eurozone, europe, enlargement, pro-european, spain, currency, esm, france, greece, italy, brussels, isds
  1. Locations
member, west, east, north, birmingham, friends, st, spoke, hull, sheffield, talked, leeds, leicester, midlands, upon, newcastle, westmr, eastmr, northmr, southmr kingston, eastmr, bromley, chislehurstmr, holborn, dorsetmr, northmr, enfield, hull, southmr, chislehurst, stuart, ealing, rees-mogg, leicester, chingford, westmr, southend, greenmr, letwin
  1. Jobs & manufacturing
jobs, economy, economic, growth, industry, unemployment, investment, government, uk, manufacturing, future, sector, employment, country, job, long-term, steel, north-east, industries, recession steel, manufacturing, jobs, tata, teesside, economy, unemployment, recession, automotive, downturn, steelworkers, productivity, growth, inward, industries, recessions, nissan, economic, steelworks, double-dip
  1. Small business
business, small, businesses, regulation, rates, enterprise, government, finance, support, firms, help, innovation, measures, smaller, regulatory, large, lending, enterprises, burden, larger smes, medium-sized, businesses, business, enterprises, small, regulation, commerce, enterprise, entrepreneurs, tape, firms, lending, burdens, brs, start-ups, start-up, entrepreneurial, smaller, lend
  1. Agreement & disagreement
believe, however, one, might, accept, must, different, case, system, view, change, think, whether, position, argument, rather, simply, reason, basis, although accept, argument, view, principle, arguments, reason, might, argue, suggest, perfectly, balance, believe, suggesting, different, reasons, necessarily, sensible, disagree, argued, whatever
  1. Voluntary sector
work, people, young, support, help, can, working, organisations, role, voluntary, ensure, together, good, also, need, important, encourage, opportunities, experience, community voluntary, charities, organisations, volunteering, young, charity, youth, work, opportunities, helping, encourage, volunteers, encouraging, play, charitable, working, help, ways, valuable, together
  1. Comments
member, said, shall, mentioned, earlier, points, lady, comments, referred, learned, intervention, remarks, interesting, raised, pointed, perhaps, gave, say, refer, described comments, remarks, lady, interesting, points, happily, southwark, referred, bermondsey, referring, somerton, intervention, shall, intervened, mentioned, pointed, learned, earlier, gentlemen, rushcliffemr
  1. Social care
care, services, social, carers, people, need, service, needs, support, older, provision, provide, quality, home, centres, elderly, access, provided, providers, homes carers, hospices, dentists, dental, care, dementia, hospice, dentistry, respite, carer, advocacy, older, elderly, caring, palliative, dentist, milton, social, keynes, cared
  1. Time
years, time, last, two, one, first, now, three, past, week, months, next, ago, every, 10, five, four, weeks, days, six years, three, two, last, months, ago, past, time, four, week, weeks, six, five, first, next, days, 10, seven, half, now
  1. Media & animals
bbc, farmers, digital, television, internet, animals, animal, media, radio, dogs, licence, dog, news, ban, farming, welfare, hunting, fee, online, farm bbc, dogs, hunting, cull, bbc’s, badgers, badger, bovine, switchover, broadcasters, gm, fur, mink, poultry, circuses, analogue, hare, hounds, puppies, swine
  1. Other
given, can, aware, may, recently, across, welcome, fact, government, well, take, close, result, seeking, indeed, support, responsible, confident, know, including given, aware, can, recently, may, across, close, fact, welcome, seeking, confident, result, well, take, responsible, indeed, keep, regret, far, reconsider

3.6.2 Manual Validation

As STM is an unsupervised model, we used several different validation strategies to ensure the topics themselves are both interesting and relevant (Grimmer & Stewart, 2013). Quinn, Monroe, Colaresi, Crespin, & Radev (2010) suggest that topics are valid if they correspond to external events. Figure shows the number of speeches by Labour MPs on the “Middle East” topic, with a spike in 2003 (at the start of the Iraq War), another spike in 2008 and 2009, as the bulk of British troops left Iraq, a small spike in 2011 coinciding with UK participation in NATO’s military intervention in Libya, and debate in 2014–2016 over UK participation in military interventions in the Syrian Civil War.

Figure shows debate over the devolved authorities of Wales and Scotland peaking in 2014, to coincide with Scotland’s independence referendum. The post-2015 decline also likely stems from the SNP winning all but three seats in Scotland during the 2015 General Election. Figure shows the increase in debate over the European Union coinciding with the referendum on the UK’s member of the European Union.

\label{Middle East-plot-validity}Number of Speeches in "Middle East" Topic per Year

Number of Speeches in “Middle East” Topic per Year

\label{wales-scotland-validity}Number of Speeches in "Wales & Scotland" Topic per Year

Number of Speeches in “Wales & Scotland” Topic per Year

\label{eu-validity}Number of Speeches in "European Union" Topic per Year

Number of Speeches in “European Union” Topic per Year

3.6.3 Topic Proportion

Figure displays the percentage of speeches made by AWS Labour MPs compared to non-AWS female Labour MPs, for all topics where AWS and/or non-AWS MPs made 100 or more speeches.

\label{k0-topic-proportion}k0 Topic Proportions

k0 Topic Proportions

“Benefits & disability” is the topic that AWS MPs are proportionally most likely to discuss, relative to their non-AWS colleagues; AWS MPs are 2.09 more likely to discuss “Benefits & disability” than non-AWS Labour MPs. Non-AWS female Labour MPs are most disproportionately likely to discuss the “Legal system” topic, with -1.45 as many of their speeches covering the “Legal system” than AWS MPs.

4 Discussion

There do not appear to be substantial or meaningful differences in the speaking styles of female Labour MPs selected through all women shortlists when compared to their female colleagues selected through open shortlists using LIWC. This is possibly due to the speaking style dominant in British parliamentary debate, which is more formal than the speech used in most day-to-day conversation. LIWC was developed by American researchers, and the LIWC dictionary may not be able to capture stylistic differences between American and British English, and may not include words commonly used in formal British English speech, limiting its usefulness in the context of British political debate.

There is more gender distinction in some selected terms and topics. AWS MPs are far more likely to make reference to their constituency and their constituents. In the debate between whether MPs should be “delegates” or “trustees” – the “mandate-independence controversy” outlined by Pitkin (1967) – the references to their constituents and constituencies suggests AWS MPs shy away from the Burkean concept of trusteeship and see themselves more as strict representatives of their constituents. In Andeweg & Thomassen’s (2005) typology of ex ante/ex post and above/below political representation, AWS MPs lean towards representation “from below”, although their selection process is ex ante/ex post.

AWS MPs refer to their constituents both specifically and in the abstract, particularly when criticising government policy. For example, in debate on 4th March 2015, Gemma Doyle, than the Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire (elected on an AWS in 2010), when asked if she would give way to Conservative MP Stephen Mosley, responded:

No, I will not [give way], because my constituents want me to make these points, not to give more time to Conservative Members.

On 2nd June 2010, during debate on Israel-Palestine, Valerie Vaz, MP for Walsall South:

My constituents want more than pressure. Will the Foreign Secretary come back to the House and report on a timetable for the discussions on a diplomatic solution, just as we did on Ireland?

On 4th April 2001, Betty Williams, member for Conwy from 1997–2010, raised the case of a wilderness guide in her constituency unable to access parts of the countryside due to foot and mouth disease:

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is continuing concern about the limited access to the countryside and crags of north Wales? May I draw his attention to the circumstances of my constituent, Ric Potter? Like many others, he has had to travel to Scotland, where there is greater access. Will my right hon. Friend help us to enable people such as Ric Potter to find work in outdoor pursuits?

5 Appendix

5.1 AWS References to Constituents in Context

A random selection of 2% of all references to “my constituency”, “my constituent” and “my constituents”, by AWS MPs, in context.

A random sample of KWIC’s
Pre Keyword Post
. I was briefed by a vehicle hire company in my constituency called Reflex and, quite frankly, if such banking
150 per cent. two years ago. Another of my constituents has advised me of an application for an 85 per
already begun, for example just over the border from my constituency in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member
in which Cornish children study. Three secondary schools in my constituency will be located on the same site, and one
Manchester has been doing a major infrastructure project, and my constituents are at the end of their tether about the lack
patient at the BRI, and Airedale hospital is in my constituency . The hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire Mr.
, but the reality is there to be seen in my constituency . On Saturday I met a delegation of workers from
to use their abilities and develop their talents. In my constituency , 366 young people who have been unemployed for more
I believe that the most effective electoral registration officer in my constituency is mum. It is mum who fills in the
can arise from defective gas appliances, because two of my constituents , young students in their 20s, died from carbon
£ 3.6 million. Some 9% of people in my constituency are hard-working, entrepreneurial self-employed people, and today is
my right hon. Friend congratulate Aldercar community school in my constituency and its staff and pupils? The percentage of pupils
", One particular concern for many of my constituents is bus fares. As I have said, my
, Jobs and employment are the biggest issue in my constituency and the latest figures now show that just under 2,000
otherwise reach. The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association is based in my constituency and was set up in 1959-it is no coincidence that
financial inclusion fund. Where would the Minister suggest that my constituents who are struggling with debt and excessive and escalating charges
and without the full participation of the British people, my constituents and the country will never forgive them.
. There is an additional problem that is relevant to my constituency . It contains a large outdoor venue called the National
if they continue to propose new services that, in my constituents ’ view, favour the administration of the hospital or
in red tape. That will be a turn-off. My constituency and the town in which it is situated has a
With my right hon. Friend’s local knowledge of my constituency , she will know that many of my constituents are
", to close a wide range of services at my constituency’s local hospital, St Helier. Most of the controversy
I am extremely worried for my constituents in Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylsden and Failsworth, and for people
One of the shortlisted sites is at Barnard Castle in my constituency , and that would produce 1,000 jobs.
making ends meet has been raised with me repeatedly by my constituents , including Graeme McGrory, who cares for his partner
One piece of transport infrastructure that my constituency and that of the hon. Member for Buckingham John
A director of Sirus Automotive who lives in my constituency would like to take on apprentices, but he has
" Three people who know that better than most are my constituents Mark, Joanne and Ben King. In 2011,
There are 3,540 women affected by the changes in my constituency . Does my hon. Friend agree that the 1995
have been down in the detail of rail provision in my constituency , but these are important matters for many of those
just a few examples of the work being done in my constituency . I recently had the privilege of accompanying the Gateshead
, but that does not help the large number of my constituents who have lost some, if not all, of
was the only mainstream candidate in the general election in my constituency who did not have their picture taken while pointing to
was not even in the mortgage application, NatWest told my constituents that it was in the process of adding it.
is a measure of the Government’s achievement that people in my constituency and elsewhere in Northamptonshire can look forward to a secure
clothing company announced the closure of two more factories in my constituency and the neighbouring Erewash constituency. A huge number of
my primary care trust in north-east Derbyshire and dentists in my constituency to find a local solution. These reforms coincide with
Cross, just a few miles up the road from my constituency . That pipe manufacturing works has been taken over by
go ahead. There is huge concern about this in my constituency and across the north. Was the Prime Minister told
backgrounds, including poor backgrounds, and is representative of my constituency . That is the sort of school that Labour Members
are subject to a TPIM. This information would let my constituents know whether potential terrorism suspects had returned to London.
. Gentleman for his generosity. Is he aware that my constituency is probably the one with the highest number of gas
because I have had direct experience of the issue in my constituency . A woman came over here as the wife of
. Let us take the feed-in tariff fiasco. In my constituency alone, we are losing many jobs, because a
What practical advice can the Secretary of State give to my constituents , as some 3,000 householders in my constituency face a
sport, that this is good enough for kids in my constituency ?
a fair deal on jobs, getting young people in my constituency and others involved in working our way out of the
argument is best explained by reference to the case of my constituent , Neil Kenny, who raised his concerns about the
to LEAs give rise to some questions, including in my constituency from Unison, which is concerned that LEAs might use
Such travel will be available to all 17,600 pensioners in my constituency . , In February I visited
", What point is there in forcing my constituent who is a single dad who has his two children
replies, perhaps he can respond to the questions that my constituent has raised. What is she to do? She
ask my hon. Friend to offer an undertaking to my constituents in Mitcham and Morden that an option appraisal of intermediate
he would be interested to hear the Minister’s response to my constituent Maureen Davenport. The Minister said that the maximum state
in child benefit, which will help 13,800 families in my constituency . My real reason for tabling the question is to
Finchley and Golders Green Mike Freer), many of my constituents killed by lorries have died at junctions, including some
Hall the plight of former United Engineering Forgings workers in my constituency who will not receive the returns from their final salary
London has had Oyster cards for nine years, but my constituents are still waiting. Although Transport for Greater Manchester is
again have a university. However, Nene college in my constituency hopes to change all that, and I support strongly
Enforcement Campaign-in Cardiff, and particularly to the work of my constituent , Professor John Shepherd, who works in the dental
and assets than non-disabled people. In London, where my constituency and the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member
in particular from the circumstances of students in Northampton. My constituency contains both a higher education and a further education college
the marine Bill on the grounds of its irrelevance to my constituents , because, like the hon. Lady, I
deepest concern for the families involved, especially given that my constituency neighbours that of my hon. Friend the Member for
services can expand on the slow line so that all my constituents benefit from the west coast main line upgrade?
rehabilitation. , The people of my constituency have been horrified by those cases, and it is
Labour Government we have achieved a tremendous amount. In my constituency the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance has almost halved
they complain? Where will the local accountability go? My constituents very much value the highly accessible local service that they
", Since helping the Jarrow marchers, my constituency has continued to welcome people from throughout the UK,
and not-for-profit groups, of which there are many in my constituency , doing immensely valuable work. They all too often
as soon as possible. Indeed, for some of my constituents , reform is already coming too late.
bus travel in Wales. I have met pensioners in my constituency who say that it has transformed their lives. As
and Sir Malcolm Thornton. All have represented part of my constituency and all left this House on 20 April or 1
Ports is the operator at the port of Immingham in my constituency . The companies there firmly believe that they have paid
Conservative-controlled Bradford city council excluded the wonderful Ilkley lido in my constituency from the free swimming initiative for young people and pensioners
for my hon. Friend’s reply, and many of my constituents who have come across the benefit integrity project will be
Tero was not properly treated and offer the apology that my constituent deserves.
about their corporate social responsibilities. For the sake of my constituents in Mitcham, Morden and Colliers Wood who want something
change in the law. Regrettably, not only in my constituency but in many northern towns and cities, I see
on an issue that has been of great concern to my constituents . While I appreciate the cross-party consensus that exists on
In my constituency of West Lancashire, the national lottery has supported 266
to meet the skills gap in engineering and construction in my constituency . , When I talk to
sat with the parents of the two children who were my constituents , as has Ken Livingstone, who made a private
who have been strongly encouraged to save The consultation in my constituency on the pensioners tax credit was extremely successful. The
Government for investing in the city of Bradford, helping my constituents to realise their potential. But in reality little has
visited Dot To Dot, a community arts project in my constituency . It has a good record of involving the community
one regret the fact that Westminster, which covers half my constituency , has so far concentrated CCTV bids-I am sure with
also significant gaps in the Bill. One example from my constituency concerns a community hydro project in Saddleworth that might not
hon. Friend for that reply, but most of my constituents probably do not know what a low carbon transition plan
has provided opportunities where there were none before. In my constituency , there have been far more opportunities in the past
to find examples of such practices. Another case in my constituency , with which I am dealing, involves elderly victims
. , The credit union in my constituency is fragile, because it serves an area in which
certainly applies to me because the acute trust that covers my constituents , who desperately need care, has the mother and
reveal a trend, and I see it happening in my constituency . It is a demonstrable fact that the polarisation between
My constituent , John Warren, has specifically asked me to raise
, Bridges Project in Musselburgh in my constituency does a brilliant job in supporting young people. A
Spowart, a small firm of legal aid solicitors in my constituency . Solicitors at the firm are paid generally between £
, both as a national concern and as it affects my constituency . I am grateful to my hon. Friend for
, nor, sadly, are far too many of my constituents .
My constituents in Hull are baffled by the Government’s approach. At
issue and go after these criminals who are preying on my constituents ?
even begin for another 12 months. Young people in my constituency should not have to spend another year on the dole
with the nutrition they need outside term time. In my constituency , several schools run summer programmes funded through the pupil
takes umbrage at being forced to do repairs-as some of my constituents , sadly, know to their cost.
", I recently visited a care home in my constituency that is provided by a small charity and is rated
House and members of the armed forces, such as my constituent , 19-year-old Private James Kenny of C company, 3rd
as out to Kent. There are seven stations in my constituency : Hither Green, Blackheath, Lee, Grove Park
Can my right hon. Friend give any assurance to my constituent , Mr. Peter Dyson, who has written to
Commons Library to conduct an analysis of the impact in my constituency . I discovered that 4,300 women and 3,800 men would
100 days of the new Parliament? Many businesses in my constituency are struggling significantly and would undoubtedly welcome a period of
in 1992, as the Member for Woolwich, before my constituency was formed for the 1997 election. John Austin is
were building up and seemed to take action only once my constituents had suffered a very high level of nuisance and there
that further education institutions, such as Blackburn College in my constituency , will not receive a real-terms funding cut as a
", On a more serious note, my constituency is home to manufacturers varying from Corus to Cadbury,
costs and cuts to working tax credits, families in my constituency will be worse off. I will not vote in
be warm. It paid for basics like that in my constituency . I will not revisit the pain of tuition fees
is a national issue. The 900 steel workers in my constituency whose jobs are on the line expect him to guarantee
to begin by speaking about the NHS as experienced by my constituents . Getting an appointment to see a GP can be
I was struck by what one of my constituents said last weekend, which was that the attacks that
", On 18 February, Llandudno in my constituency hosted the first North Wales criminal justice board conference.
my hon. Friend foresee for the young people in my constituency if they are to suffer possible cuts alongside that idiosyncratic
busways and widen the M1. Is he aware that my constituency will have the new Translink guided busway by 2008 due
" Last week, I hosted a jobs fair in my constituency , as have many hon. Members on both sides
in the south-east will be dealt with in Parliament? My constituents want to know where we are going and what the
him to visit the brand-new children’s centre in Elland in my constituency , which is due to open in January, and
realities for people affected by this situation. One of my constituents is stuck out in Saudi Arabia. His work has
the past few days. When the problems started in my constituency on Monday night, we saw copycat criminality, mindless
those branches, in Catford and Blackheath, are in my constituency and two others, in Lewisham and Greenwich, are
My constituent , Richard Belmar, has now spent nearly three years
Postwatch because I am unhappy about the consultation process in my constituency . I fully accept many of my hon. Friend’s
area of Keighley last Friday and talking to many of my constituents and taking on board many of their anxieties. On
of the major issues raised with me by carers in my constituency . We must take such issues on board. 
that the voucher company Farepak, which is based in my constituency , collapsed this week, robbing thousands of people on
scientific reports recommend restricted phone use by younger children. My constituents do not believe that such recommendations tally with the telecommunications
. Mullin). This is a big issue in my constituency , where inappropriate development on garden sites is taking place
scrutiny process, but it is impossible for me, my constituents or councillors of any party not involved in that enterprise
", At the time, I was consulting my constituents about their attitudes to crime and antisocial behaviour, and
you prove it? , My constituency is served by two hospitals: Dewsbury and District hospital
% reduction. What reassurances can the Minister give to my constituents and firefighters that those latest cuts will not jeopardise or
. , Horwich visiting service in my constituency has lost funding and can no longer employ its part-time
I have spoken to many businesses in my constituency . Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the Government’s
prevent businesses from going into administration, as many in my constituency are likely to do. Finally, the local authority
I do not know whether my experience in my constituency has been exactly the same as that of my right
? , Many SMEs operate in my constituency , and I want to ensure that the skills base
that population live in Salford, the local authority for my constituency . , In last year’s debate
It is an issue that has been simmering away in my constituency and recently the rumours have turned to reality as the
of the parenting lessons that go on in schools in my constituency to great effect. The hon. Gentleman ignores those
a distraught couple who run a hedgehog rescue centre in my constituency . They are currently nursing back to health a hedgehog
people to think that that was the total sum of my constituency . It is an extremely nice place to spend Christmas
transparency about the impact. , My constituents are also anxious about the Government’s proposals to allow fracking
some of its provisions will have on vulnerable people in my constituency . , I shall first raise
key elements of creative business growth. Creative businesses in my constituency and in a large area to the west of London
In Pembrokeshire we have two oil refineries, one in my constituency . They were both affected by the blockades in September
thank the Minister for his reply. Head teachers in my constituency are concerned that Government have still not come forward with
the work of local authorities in my area. In my constituency , there are no high profile arts venues that hit
many of the early asbestosis claims from Hebden Bridge in my constituency might not have succeeded under the proposed 75 per cent
job first.  , My constituency is pronounced  Erreywash , not 
that is not regulated properly, with the result that my constituents , who have small sums of money available to invest
a picture of the winning design, but people in my constituency have seen many pictures before. I want work to
hour. I have written to all the headteachers in my constituency over the last few weeks, and they tell me
this debate falls on an anniversary well worth remembering for my constituents . It is 20 years to the month that post-war
people of the east end, including the people of my constituency , talk to me about how excited they still are
I recently visited Bishop Barrington school in my constituency , which has got a new science lab and sports
the extent of the disruption and the problems caused for my constituents ? I would be happy to do that. 
increase in the number of new homes being built in my constituency over the past 10 years or so. For the
junior doctors who are the problem, but him? My constituents-hundreds of whom have written to me-overwhelmingly feel that he has
, , I do not think my constituents knew whether to laugh or cry.
about to be built in Walkden in the centre of my constituency . The new local improvement finance trust-LIFT-centre will include GP
is higher, and the dole queue is lengthening. My constituents are only too well aware of the exploitative practices of
" I am fortunate in having a research centre in my constituency at the university of Durham, which concentrates on enabling
is talking about the wrong hospital, which many of my constituents will find most amusing.
of the Land Registry would be bad not just for my constituents but for the public as a whole. The revenue
The food banks in my constituency , which currently number at least six, tell me
of those issues. , In my constituency , the credit union benefits from capital and revenue from
children. I am indebted to a law company in my constituency called Just for Kids Law, which has raised with
hope they are not giving false hope to many of my constituents . Will they just admit that they have made a
I have a range of energy-intensive industries in my constituency , including steel, glass, paper and the entire
the save Lewisham hospital campaign. But for now, my constituents still face the prospect of seriously downgraded services at their
from and bugbear for my constituents. On behalf of my constituents and their families, I very much look forward to
", helped motorists and the hard-pressed hauliers in my constituency-or they could have looked at jobs for young people.
Staff at Trinity, Bluecoat and Fernwood schools in my constituency are desperate for extra investment in their buildings. Will
The point about geography is critical in Cumbria, where my constituency is. Under the proposals, we will end up
will affect disabled youngsters. The What? centre in my constituency , which gives counselling to all youngsters, still does
closure of the offices is having a direct impact on my constituency . Walsall faces the closure of its HMRC office,
. , Frustration is evident among my constituents : for many years, they have felt marginalised and
, larger numbers of people are choosing to live in my constituency but work in London. If we are to take
ethnic minority children, of whom there are many in my constituency . , We have dealt a
single parents in the country-I will return to that point-and my constituents think that the measure is unfair. How people in
should not come back from our holidays to find that my constituents , and those of my neighbours, have lost their
their area; I fully intend to do so in my constituency . , We also need better
too much movement. I want Airedale general hospital in my constituency not just to survive, but to prosper. It
", During the summer and autumn months, my constituents and those of many other hon. Members were affected
put a human face on many of the difficulties that my constituents experience. , In Newham,
Parent Action Network, which has its national headquarters in my constituency . It has just received nearly £ 400,000 in lottery
sector. On Friday, an independent community pharmacist in my constituency told me that he estimated that the Government cuts would
it becomes an empty gesture. A community group in my constituency is setting up a community development trust, and it
since June and doubled since 2006. Young people in my constituency have been particularly badly hit, with a 288%
police get back to strength to defend the people in my constituency of Mitcham and Morden?
to address have been influenced by what has happened in my constituency in the past 10 days as a series of incidents
, including those of Allied Steel and Wire’s pensioners in my constituency ? They took the case to court through the unions
Indeed, it is a stealth cut. In my constituency , the Tories will have to make stealth cuts such
communities across the UK. I understand the concerns of my constituents . I understand that when a family from a different
a vested interest in ensuring the safety and security of my constituency , which in the past has been a military target
infrastructure project is a massive economic opportunity for Wales and my constituency in particular. Will the Minister assure the House that
Nottingham that stands to lose most is the Meadows in my constituency . Before the last election, the Meadows, one
am here this afternoon specifically to represent the concerns of my constituents who are trade union members in Parliament, as they
. Nothing could be further from the truth, as my constituency exemplifies. As I have already said, I represent
making are the very ones that have been made by my constituents , by the constituents of my hon. Friends and-I
, but wanted to take the opportunity to read out my constituent’s comments so that Ministers understand the worry and concern.
firm of Hickman and Rose, which is based in my constituency ? She was due to speak at a conference organised
Majesty’s Opposition. That public money could be used for my constituent Grace Ryder, aged 9, who was recently diagnosed
changes that will affect 650 families and 1,500 children in my constituency . , These are ideologically driven
deal more about the birdlife in both estuaries that surround my constituency . , The Bill establishes a
My constituent , the wonderful campaigner Marie Lyons, has doggedly pursued
  vote for their Muslim brother . My constituents were told that that was their religious duty. When
. It will bring huge benefits to many families in my constituency who are on low or not very generous incomes.
anywhere. , The diversity of my constituency is one of the reasons why it is the best
c The NHS in my constituency has moved beyond special measures into the success regime.
invited my right hon. and learned Friend to meet my constituents to hear what they think about our local NHS.
fleeing Ebola-affected countries are not left destitute and homeless? My constituents , Mr and Mrs Mahmood, have been working in
pension credit, but I wondered whether Ministers could give my constituent and me advice on whether the notional sum tied up
first home. There are so many young people in my constituency who see homes priced out of their reach and for
There are also problems for low-income families, such as my constituent on Colleymoor Leys lane who says:
term. I know from the experience of businesses in my constituency and in the surrounding west midlands area that New Street
that he needs those, but he failed to tell my constituents watching yesterday that a 1p cut in duty will not
average, which show that over a fifth-22% in my constituency-of people who resort to food banks for an emergency food

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  1. e.g. a reference to “the member for Bethnal Green and Bow” in keeping with Parliamentary convention of identifying MPs by their seat rather than their name would be followed by “(Rushnara Ali)”.